In general, artificial turf is artificially formed so as to have the form of turf made of synthetic fiber, and is easily managed after construction and retains green color, so that the artificial turf is used in a soccer field, a field hockey field, various indoor interiors, and leisure facilities.
Further, the artificial turf retains its excellent quality due to the recent development in technology, while saving water and protecting the environment, instead of using, and management cost of the artificial turf is reduced, so that a size of a market of the artificial turf has rapidly increased every year.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the artificial turf includes a base 10 formed like a carpet, a turf layer 20 implanted on the base 10, and a filler 30 filled in the turf layer 20.
Here, the base 10 and the turf layer 20 are manufactured by using thermoplastic chemical fiber (for example, PE, PP, and nylon) as a fiber structure body, and the filler 30 includes particle silica sand 31, and an elastic body (for example, SBR, EPDM, and SEBS) 33, such as rubber or silicon particles, and may further include a backing surface (for example, PP, PET, SBR, NR, Acrylic, CaCO3, and pigment, not illustrated) for fixing the turf layer to the base 10 according to a product.
However, when about 7 to 8 years elapse after the construction, the life span of the artificial turf expires due to abrasion of the turf layer 20 and the like, so that the artificial turf needs to be inevitably replaced.
Accordingly, when the artificial turf is replaced, the artificial turf having the expired life cannot be simply destroyed, but is recycled due to preventing a reason of environment pollution, waste of resources, and equipment, and in connection with this, the separation of the base 10 formed of thermoplastic chemical fiber, the turf layer 20, and the filler 30 from each other is published, and thus is not difficult.
However, the filler 30 formed of silica sand 31, the elastic body 33, and the like, even though grain sizes of the two or more materials forming the filler 30 are different from each other, the two or more materials are particles, so that it is not easy to separate the materials 30, and the filler 30 is processed by incinerating the total amount of filler, thereby causing contamination to the environment and wasting precious resources.
Accordingly, it is necessary to research and develop a sorting method and a sorting apparatus for recycling the filler 30, and further, even though the two or more materials (for example, the aforementioned silica sand 31 and elastic body 33) configuring the filler 30 are easily separated, it is impossible to recycle the filler 30 unless the two or more materials are separated from each other with high purity, so that it is necessary to research and develop a sorting method and a sorting apparatus for recycling the filler capable of securing even high purity.